Jurassic World Movie Review

by Heidi Joelle

What if Jurassic Park had successfully opened twenty years ago?

Twenty-two years have passed since the original Jurassic Park movie came out. I rewatched the original movie about a week before I saw Jurassic World and it does stand the test of time. This latest installment pretends as if Jurassic Park II and Jurassic Park III never happened and instead picks up in the storyline about twenty years after the events of Jurassic Park. The park is opened, under the name Jurassic World, and has become the most popular theme park on the planet.

The story follows two sets of characters. Zach and Gray are visiting the park as guests of their Aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who is the park operations manager. And Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) who is working with training the velociraptors. Things go wrong when a genetically modified dinosaur, who was to be the park’s next big attraction, gets loose. And this time, it isn’t just a few people on the island.

Jurassic World’s greatest strength is that it knows what it is. This is a popcorn flick through and through, and it doesn’t try to be more. Combine a heaping dose of nostalgia and some dialogue that delves into cheesiness and you have a very enjoyable movie. I would argue that this is best movie in the series after the original. The park itself becomes a character, so much time clearly went into creating what a real life theme park would look like with dinosaurs. It looked very similar to Universal Studios in Hollywood, mixing in the Jungle Cruise from Disneyland and the Shamu Show from Sea World. All just bigger and with dinosaurs.

Parents should be aware that this is a PG-13 movie and not suitable for younger children.

Language:
There is some profanity throughout the movie, but to me it seemed like there was less than your “normal” PG-13 movie.

Sexual content:
As the situation gets more dire, Claire’s shirt gets lower and there are references to dinosaurs mating.

Violence:
Parents should be aware that there is violence in this movie. As soon as the genetically modified dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, gets out, the movie is a roller coaster and there is scary content and violence throughout the rest of the film. Most of the violent deaths happen off screen, but there is one death of a minor character that could be traumatic to younger audiences. Overall, if your teen was okay with the original movies, he/she may be fine with the scary scenes in this movie.

It is exciting to see the Jurassic Park franchise come roaring back to life, and I will be adding this one to my home collection.

Heidi Joelle is professional minion by day and a writer, editor, and reader by night. She can be coaxed from the house by the sound of a good adventure or the opportunity of traveling somewhere new. Her Saint Bernard, Smokey, and problem-solving cat, Diamond, bring extra joy to daily life.

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